


Doors and Windows

by Rubynye



Category: DC Comics
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Nonmonogamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 06:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/pseuds/Rubynye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because Steph's Robin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doors and Windows

**Author's Note:**

> This is _not_ set in a LSU (Live Steph Universe).
> 
> [It was written when the LSU was fanfic, not canon.]

Title: Doors and Windows  
Fandom: DC Comics  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: Steph/Cass, Tim/Steph, Kon/Tim

 

"Mmfh." Steph hits the roof hard, air whooshing through her nose, but she doesn't bounce.

She doesn't bounce because Cass is on her, fists curled in her cape, mouth tight on hers. Cass's lips are full and soft, but she doesn't kiss softly at all.

She wouldn't be Cass if she did.

And she's... Steph doesn't know how she can think with Cass's killer thighs clamped around hers, hard and slick in the suit under Steph's hands. She doesn't know how she can think with Cass wiggling against her, breathing hard against her cheek, kissing her right out of her fucking mind. But she hangs on tight to Cass's thighs-- and she's never been so psyched about how much stronger her hands have gotten-- and tilts her chin up, kissing Cass and listening.

Because Cass's first language is body language, right? She's so quiet Steph can hear the breeze over the rooftops and their capes crinkle-squeaking under her and her own moaning no matter how much she tries to be cool. But in the ways that matter Cass is shouting.

She's shouting "Steph" with every hard push of her soft soft mouth, every little wave down her flexing spine. She's shouting "Robin" by grabbing Steph's cape tighter, pulling Steph up into the kiss, squeezing with those rock-hard thighs because she knows Steph can take it.

Because Steph's trying to say with every gasp and squirm she wants it, and Cass's listening, as their armor-covered breasts bump and slide and she tugs Steph's lip with her teeth and god_damn_ how did Cass know how hot that makes her?

She's Cass. She's Batgirl. Of course she knows.

Steph moans so loud she can hear it echo, off the next building or maybe just inside her head. She swallows hard and licks Cass's soft hot mouth, and Cass licks her back and bites her upper lip, and gives her cape that Robin tug again.

When Cass says Robin-- and she's saying "yes," now with her kisses, and "more" as Steph's knees slide up and Cass rides them and there are _seriously_ too many layers between them-- when Cass says Robin she doesn't mean "substitute" or "next best" or "till Tim comes back" and he's never coming back and Cass's hair doesn't feel a thing like his between Steph's fingers--

She means Steph, and she means Robin, she doesn't mean anyone else.

Because Steph's Robin.

Becoming Robin's been full of surprises, stuff Steph never knew before, things she never knew she could do. For all the friends she's had she never thought her best friend would be the kickass daughter of a freaky assassin; for all the people she's kissed she never counted on falling for that best friend, even though Cass is gorgeous and moves like water flowing and can knock a guy out before he can blink.

But Cass is Batgirl, and Steph's her Robin, and she pushes with her knee till she can feel the heat between Cass's legs, armor or no armor. Till she knows Cass has to feel it.

Cass moans, an actual fucking moan tingling through Steph's lips, and the figure-eight wiggle of her butt is a laugh. Steph grabs Cass's butt to feel her move, fluid and sleek as Steph's hands slide across her curves and catch on the seams of the suit.

Kissing Cass on a roof is nothing like kissing Tim on a roof, and Steph's gonna have to add this to the pile of crap that's already between her and her so-called boyfriend, and Cass's fingers stumble for the first time as they curl under her collar.

She's asking. Steph nods against Cass's mouth before she remembers she doesn't have to. Cass smiles over hers, and Steph can see the little happy curve in her head, until Cass pulls her collar open with a dangerous, hot growl.

Steph shivers, her hands clutching so tightly they squeak against Cass's suit, and she's sweating all over, because Cass is making out with her on a roof, because Batgirl's calling her Robin. She growls and bites Cass back, and Cass bucks harder against Steph's leg and smiles with every inch of her body.

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Shit. _Shit._ God_fucking_dammit."

It hurts like hell, but that's not why Steph's cursing with tears in her eyes as she slumps into the shadow of a heating vent and strips down her bloody tights. She can't believe she made such a big mistake, her first solo night out. Such a fucking stupid mistake.

It was the "justice from above" thing. Tim didn't like it when she called it "death from above," and the memory of the face he made when she suggested "asskicking from above" makes Steph giggle through her wince as she peels blood-sticky cloth away from the gash in her calf. It could be worse; it could be pulsing, she could have no feeling in her toes, she could be passing out. But it's still a big bloody damn painful reminder of her mistake.

So, asskicking from above. The crimefighter, spotting evildoers below, leaps down onto their heads, making gravity into an ally for once and yelling a battle cry at the right time to surprise and distract said evildoers. Steph bites her lower lip on a hiss as she presses a handful of gauze pads to her leg.

Batgirl doesn't pull that trick, of course, but she doesn't need to. Maybe Steph should stick to the sneaky silent style herself. Tonight she cannonballed right onto a mugger, but she yelled too soon, which gave the perp time to get his knife up.

Steph wants to keep cursing, but if she opens her mouth she knows she'll shriek, so she grits her teeth and jerks the field bandage tight around her leg. She knew, as soon as she yelled, that she'd fucked up. But it wasn't like she could take it back, not like she could fly away like that asshole Superboy she and Batman ran into two nights ago. She had to fight it through, and she kicked the guy's ass, knife or no knife.

And yeah, she was technically done with patrol (her first solo, and when she'd called in and reported her successful night she had to bounce or she'd pop, and Batman had this dry little smile in his voice and she knows he knew she was bouncing), but it's not like her heart wasn't still thumping, not like her adrenaline wasn't still pumping, not like she could just swing past one more mugging. And it's not like she'll let the big guy leash her to his side again because of one stupid mistake.

So. Steph pulls up her tights, sets her back against the cinderblock wall, and lets the steam from the vent cloak her as she catches her breath. She needs stitches, and the thought of trying to do them herself in the dark gives her the heebiejeebies. Who can she go to who won't tell on her?

Cass might--

Tim won't.

Steph bites her upper lip doubtfully. She must be wrecking her lipstick, but... but she hasn't seen Tim in way too long, and he's been calling her, and... he hasn't seen her as Robin.

Maybe this won't be the best first impression, but Tim's the only one who makes sense. He may talk a good game about leaving it all behind, but Steph remembers the first time she saw Robin, and their first date. She remembers the way his quiet little smile turns into an actual grin when he's swinging. You can't leave behind something that's in your blood like that, no matter how much blood you leave behind, and Steph's gonna bleed through if she just sits here. She shoves herself up and shoots.

Swinging always helps. No matter how much her leg hurts.

When she reaches Tim's street the only light on in the house is in his window. Perfect. He's at his computer, wearing a T-shirt and sweats; he looks up before she touches the window, which is a tiny disappointment, but the face he makes when he sees her is even better than perfect. If she weren't clinging to a ledge and kinda dizzy, she'd laugh her head off.

"St-- Robin!" The only person that sounds better from, Batman included, is Cass, and Steph feels a short pang of guilt, but Tim kissed someone else first, and he's smiling at her now, so wide she can actually see teeth, so maybe that girl didn't work out.

"Hey, Tim." Steph smiles back, throwing an arm round his neck, and lets him help her in. OK, she lets herself think she's letting him help her. At least she knows it.

"Hi. You're-- you're hurt." Well, it doesn't take the World's Second Greatest Detective (TM) to figure that out. Steph drops onto Tim's bed and pulls her boot off, trying not to wince as she moves her leg. There were some days, before she knew his name, knew his life, when Steph daydreamed about Robin climbing through her window needing her help. The shoe and the other foot, and she's bled through all the gauze pads already.

"'Tis but a flesh wound,'" she quotes, to make him smile. He does, tightly, and his eyes are worried. "But, yeah, can you give me a hand?"

"Sure." He looks at her leg, backs up a step, looks at her face, and starts to turn; then he leans down --he's still so fast-- and kisses her, light and quick. Steph's still gaping at him when he goes, before the tingle's even faded from her lips.

Well, getting stabbed in the leg was worth that! And kind of prevents a victory cartwheel or anything. Steph settles for grinning, taking off her tights, and propping up her leg so she won't bleed on Tim's bed. She's ready to fight crashing, but she's still amped, even though she's safe and warm, even though Tim's taking a long time. If he were someone else she might be worried he was calling the cops or something.

But not Tim. Steph leans back against the wall and smiles.

Tim comes back with a standard household first-aid kit in one hand and a big plastic cup in the other. "I hope that's a beer," Steph jokes, and he looks at her half scolding and half smiling, just like he always did, and all she wants to do is wrap her arms around his neck again.

"We should be quiet; my dad won't be happy if he finds Robin in my room." As if she needs to be told, but Steph can hear just how fake Tim's casual voice is, so she doesn't say anything. Maybe he isn't quite so happy himself to find Robin in his room. But he did kiss her.

Tim puts the first aid kit down and disappears under his bed for a moment, coming up with another kit that looks distinctly more like Bat-issue. "I thought you tossed everything?" Steph asks, before she can put her brain back in charge of her mouth.

Tim's smile is lopsided. "Not everything." He pulls out a suture kit. "I've only got topical anesthetic, though."

"Love hurts." Steph gives him her best Brave and Plucky Teen Vigilante grin, the one that always gets at least one side of Batman's mouth to curl up. Tim smiles on both sides of his mouth, and keeps smiling even when he looks down as he soaks a pad from a little bottle of saline. Then he starts cleaning off the wound.

There's a good side to everything, Steph reminds herself as she clutches Tim's blankets tight with both fists. The good side of pain is that it lets you know you're alive. And it distracts you from anything else. Like all the anything elses she can't remember to think about as she concentrates on not screaming. Spray anesthetic or no, stitches hurt like a motherfucker.

Tim's shoulders are tense, but he isn't fazed, because he's Tim. He sews her up with quick, precise stitches, wipes the wound again and bandages her up. "Good as new," Steph gasps. That was truly weak, but at least she's not whimpering.

"Yeah." Tim wraps up the kit and tucks everything underneath the top layers of trash in his wastebin. "I'll get a bucket, and we can wash the worst of it out of your tights." He's still not looking up. Maybe he's just being Tim. But maybe...

"Hey." He looks up when she says that, and his mouth looks just, well, calm and normal. But his eyes are kind of wide. "Thanks, Tim. Thanks, um, a lot."

Tim shrugs, and actually blushes, and Steph can breathe again, and has to grin. "I'm glad I can-- I'm glad I could help."

Mmmhmm. Steph opens her mouth, which means she looks pre-surprised when Tim hands her the cup. It's full of deep-purple smoothie, and smells like two pounds of fruit. "It's a Black and Blue," he explains. "Blackberries, blueberries and protein powder. I figured you could use a snack."

"A Black and Blue." Steph looks at him. "You _named_ the smoothie?"

"Nightwing did, when he taught me how to make it. It's full of vitamins and it's good for night vision." Tim's blushing harder.

The least Steph can do is not tease him for it. "You are the awesomest person in the world," she says instead, and doesn't think about how much all that fruit must have cost, and takes a sip. It's actually pretty good; she can't taste the protein powder at all. Even if it tasted like crap she'd still drink it, because Tim's taking care of her. It feels like old times, but better, because she's Robin.

Which means he isn't, so she reminds herself not to say anything too monumentally stupid.

He gets her tights soaking and sits beside her on the bed, and she tilts her chin up and poses a little as she drinks, as he looks at her. The effect's probably missing a bit without her tights and boots, but from the thighs up she's all Robin, and it feels good to feel Tim staring at her. She totally should have climbed through his window a long time ago.

"So, how's it going?" they say at the same time, and then they have to laugh, and there's a short volley of "you first"s before Tim settles down and says, "I'm okay." He's looking down, but Steph lets him. It's not like he's got a mask anymore. "Spending a lot of time with my dad." That smile's so happy it makes her hurt a little. "Life's kind of quiet, and I still can't sleep more than five hours a night, but." He shrugs. "I use the time to study, so I'm doing better in school. And, um. How's this?"

He touches the edge of her mask, lightly, but lingering. Steph tilts her face so his fingertips brush her cheek. They lift, and then come back, and she turns further till her cheek presses his fingers. "Busy. You know how it goes." Tim nods. "The big guy warmed up a little-- for him, of course-- and he's let me go out with BG sometimes. We took down--"

Tim's hand trembles against Steph's face, and he shakes his head, just once. She shuts up. "You sound like you're doing great. As long as you haven't winged anyone with Batarangs."

"Fucker." Steph grins at Tim's really, really pathetic attempt at an innocent look. "You're never ever gonna let me live that one down, are you?" The scar's still there, a little pale thread right above his elbow. When she runs her fingers across it she can barely feel it through the gauntlet. "Besides, it was a throwing star."

Tim shivers a little. Maybe the gauntlet feels weird. "I wasn't allowed to give you Batarangs." He sounds weird, but he's still smiling.

"Well, I'm rated for Batarangs now." Steph tucks her arm around Tim's waist and pulls him closer. "Thanks for saying you think I'm doing great. I--" Might as well say it. "Didn't exactly ask you about this."

Steph pauses to let Tim look down, but he doesn't. He looks right at her with clear blue eyes and says, "I knew you'd be a great Robin. You're... cheerful. Bright. Robin should be bright."

So she kisses him. And he kisses back, cupping her face, his mouth moving over hers until she feels warm down to her toes. Steph pushes her hand into his hair, remembering too late that she still hasn't taken the gauntlet off, but when Tim shivers... he doesn't mind, does he? That's a good kind of shiver.

Steph shoves the other hand into his hair, too, and gets a harder shiver for it, and tongue. It makes sense; he's never seemed to like any of Steph's outfits as much as he liked her Spoiler suit, and Cass told her about his reaction when she showed up in Oracle's old Batgirl suit.

Steph _definitely_ should have climbed through his window in her Robin suit ages ago. No matter what Batman said about her going out alone.

Tim shudders to a stop, and lets go, and pushes Steph back a bit. Not roughly, but it's still kind of abrupt. "We-- I shouldn't." At least he's nearly as breathless as she feels. "I-- you're hurt, and--"

Laughing would _not_ help. "I'm not dead." Steph grins brightly. The lipstick smudges on Tim's mouth look incredibly lickable. "I like this."

"Okay, but. But we were talking." And only Tim would want to talk more than he'd want to make out. Steph sighs as obviously as she can, and watches his gaze roll down, and smirks when he looks at her face again. More when he blushes. Tim is so-- how could she not have called him back all those times? He's so Tim.

Especially when he gets revenge. "Besides, you have the perfect sense of humor for Robin," he says, sliding his arm round her waist.

"Really? What's that?" Steph asks warily.

"Awful." He laughs, low and quiet, and again when she punches his shoulder, and he looks so...

"You look like a--" Steph doesn't let herself say 'normal boy'. "Well, my jokes may be lame, but they're mine."

"And now they're Robin's." Tim's fingers spread out on her waist, stroking, feeling the material of the suit.

She ought to be complimented-- she really is-- but something makes her grumpy. "Tell that to Superboy."

"Superboy?" Tim's fingers stop moving.

The memory's a hot rush of annoyance. "Yeah. He came looking for you two nights ago, and was a complete asshole about it. To think I used to have a poster of him. I didn't tell him anything, of course. Batman told him he could find you himself. I hope he took a flying fuck at a falling doughnut."

Tim shrugs jerkily. "He found me. I explained the situation. He left."

"Batman should've lent you some Kryptonite. I bet he's got some." Steph huffs. "Who the hell does Super-Junior think he is, anyway? Your boyfriend?"

The words fall into the sudden silence. Steph looks up, and her belly feels cold, and this time if Tim looks away she's gonna grab his face and turn it towards her.

He doesn't look away. The thing about Tim is, he's good at lying. He had his folks fooled for years, he's bluffed supervillains. He's really good at lying. But Steph's been learning, and Tim's used to wearing a mask. When he says flatly, "Superboy's my best friend," Tim's eyes are as opaque as blue paint.

Steph seriously wants to slug him. She's opening her mouth to call bullshit when he adds, "like Cass is yours."

And that crashes down like a bucket of cold water. Cass _is_ her best friend. But how many people know how their best friend _tastes_? Steph's gone further with Cass than she's gotten with Tim, for God's sake. Unless she wants to have _that_ conversation with him, and honestly she should, but....

...but Tim is looking at her sideways, and he looks like Robin. Steph just _can't_. "Well, I hope things-- I hope he understood." And that was so incredibly lame.

Tim doesn't really want to talk about it any more than Steph does. "I think he did." He squeezes her a little. "I think your tights might be ok now."

"Yeah." Steph doesn't care about the tights. Tim's just about never held her this long, and she wants to hang onto him and soak it up. But she can't swing bare-legged across Gotham-- some things are just _too_ old-school-- so she pulls off her gauntlets and rubs her hands idly across the nubbly-soft blanket while she watches him wring the tights out and hang them up in his closet, and ditch the water out the window. "Thanks for dealing with them for me."

"It's just blood." Tim dries his hands off on a shirt from his hamper, then stops for a moment, takes a breath, and deliberately pulls off the one he's wearing.

Steph had forgotten how many scars he has, shiny against his skin.

"Did you get him?" Tim crosses the room to sit beside her again.

She's still staring at his scars as he moves, his ribs and his arms and his shoulder. "Huh?"

"The criminal who stabbed you." Tim's looking in the general direction of Steph's knees, and his hand moves a little on the blanket, then back again, like he almost reached for something.

"I left the asshole zip-stripped to a tree with 'please arrest me' pinned to his shirt."

Tim looks up at her, and his smile is so proud Steph flings herself on him. Her stitches tug painfully but she doesn't care as she wiggles herself across Tim's lap and kisses him. He just kind of breathes, and... did Superboy kiss him two nights ago? With a rush of possessiveness that makes her growl, Steph grabs Tim's shoulders and kisses him fiercely, and he laughs that quiet little laugh and kisses her back, one hand on her shoulder, one sliding up to her mask as his eyes fall closed.

"Robin," Tim murmurs softly, a little like he's in some kinda trance, but he kisses her hard and deep and messy, the way he did when she found him in that truck, the way she's always wanted him to kiss her. Steph's fingers tangle tight in Tim's hair from the force of his kisses, and she plants her good knee in the mattress and closes her eyes.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Cass is flirting with Steph.

Batman has his back to them, which must be why Cass dares. He's sitting in his big chair, looking at security cam footage they're supposed to be observing as well. Cass is watching the screen, head up, arms back, hands clasped behind her really fabulous butt.

Steph? Is trying to watch the screen. Robin's probably supposed to be able to multitask, she figures.

But multitasking is one thing. Being able to notice anything beside Cass with her face tilted a little sideways and her hip slightly cocked, her smile tilted up and Steph's lipstick on her mouth--

Steph takes a deep breath, and makes herself focus on footage of some poor jerk getting a beatdown from some other poor slobs. She should notice the geometry of the alley, the number of trash cans, the heights and weights and general stats of the assailants. She should be able to tell how many there even are.

She should be able to do something, anything, besides watching Cass slowly rotate her hips in little circles.

Steph can barely manage to breathe. And she really, really wants to kiss Cass. Right now.

Batman would ground her. No, he'd tranq her, and then he'd ground her for a million years. And send Cass on a mission to Timbuktu or something. Or maybe outer space.

They need to calm down before Batman notices. Steph's hung out with her boyfriends' folks before, she can be cool--

But has Cass? Steph's her first girlfriend, isn't she? If Steph _is_ her girlfriend, rather than Tim's girlfriend?

Tim is... doing normal kid stuff, whatever that is for him. Cass is five feet away, and now she's making these tiny little bounces. Whatever she is to Cass, Steph is the first, and the thought makes her feel stupidly, mushily warm. It's a privilege, like being Robin. It's something else she can't, she won't fuck up.

The screen flickers to a police report of a multiple murder, and Cass snaps to instant attention. Her back's that bit straighter, her face impassive. Steph really should've been paying attention before Cass gave her that hint. But does Cass _want_ Steph to get good at ignoring her? As if she even could.

"For the past two months entire families have been murdered in their houses at night," Batman tells them, as another report comes up. Cheerful. "So far, each family includes a teenage boy."

He types briefly, and four photos come up, one from each report, two others. All the boys have dark hair, cut shortish and a little shaggy, high cheekbones and sharp noses.

All of them look like Tim.

Steph feels a flash of cold dread, and she gasps before she catches herself. Cass doesn't turn her head, but she turns her eyes, and Steph can see "I know" and "oh no" on her face, clear as if she could hear the words.

"The killer is hunting Rob-- the last Robin," Steph says, because she knows Batman is waiting for her to say she's put it together. She feels like her mouth will barely move, like she's frozen. _Tim_.

Before the last word's out of her mouth he's on his feet, nodding at her as he passes, and she darts after his stride towards the Batmobile. Running's easier with every step. "Batgirl, guard the Drake residence. Robin, let's go stop them."

There isn't time to wish Batman was sending her to Tim. Steph swings into her seat; from the corner of her eye she sees Cass pull on her cowl, as the Batmobile door shuts and they peel out.

* * * * * * * * * * 

It should be raining. Steph glances up at the heavy blank sky, and flinches away from some bits of dead-leaf crap flung by the wind. Her Spoiler cape flaps much more flimsily than her Robin cape did. She knows it's stupid to want rain, that it'd be harder to climb without the really good Robin grapples, even more miserable to sit on this roof watching Tim's window. But if it were raining her mask would have an excuse to be wet.

Tim's window's dark. Out this late, Steph figures, he's back to being Robin. Nothing's moving on his street but treetops waving in the wind.

Steph isn't Robin anymore. She's not even supposed to be Spoiler anymore.

Tim's probably supposed to bring Steph in if he catches her. Probably, so's Cass. She's definitely not allowed to talk to Steph anymore, and this time it seems to have stuck; Steph can't find her, not that she has anything left to say.

To any of them. Steph knows better than to try Nightwing, or Oracle, or Alfred. They'd tell her to go home, if they didn't turn her in. Maybe Tim would understand, her boyfriend's supposed to understand, but is he even still her boyfriend? He ought to be, considering the night she climbed through his window, but by that logic she's Cass's girlfriend, too.

Steph wonders, sometimes, how much of it was her and how much of it was Robin. With either of them. And if she cries any more she'll puke again, so she's not gonna cry. She grits her teeth, clenches her eyes shut till the prickle fades back into soreness, takes a deep breath, and makes herself think.

Tim likes Robin. He likes being Robin, he likes making out with Robin. Steph loved being Robin. And she loves Cass, and she loves Tim. Who says there can't be two Robins? She'll show Batman, and she'll be able to see Cass again, and when Tim sees her in the suit--

Yeah, that's the plan, and now Steph knows which one of Batman's files to implement. It'd help if she knew what Matches Malone looked like, but she'll figure it out.

Steph swings across the street, a little cheered by how well she manages to correct for the wind. She presses a red lipstick kiss to Tim's bedroom window, then pulls her mask back down and swings off into Gotham. It's like breaking in someplace; no matter how tight they lock up the door, there's always some window she can jimmy, right?

For the first time in days, Steph smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: From _Teen Titans_#13, through _War Drums_ and the _12-Cent Adventure_.  
> Dedicated to: [](http://red-eft.livejournal.com/profile)[**red_eft**](http://red-eft.livejournal.com/), not least because of [this picture](http://www.livejournal.com/users/red_eft/24632.html), but generally because she's talented and wonderful.  
> Infinite Thanks to: [](http://sharpest-rose.livejournal.com/profile)[**sharpest_rose**](http://sharpest-rose.livejournal.com/), [](http://maelithil.livejournal.com/profile)[**maelithil**](http://maelithil.livejournal.com/), [](http://petronelle.livejournal.com/profile)[**petronelle**](http://petronelle.livejournal.com/), and [](http://brown-betty.livejournal.com/profile)[**brown_betty**](http://brown-betty.livejournal.com/) for audiencing, and [](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=_marcelo)[**_marcelo**](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=_marcelo) for betareading. And again to Betty for telling me how Cass stands when she smiles.


End file.
